Trying to make life work for me.

Laura Vanderkam studied the schedules of high-achievers. What did she find? Almost all have a morning routine. I’ve interviewed a ton of top experts about their productivity secrets: Tim Ferriss, Cal Newport, Dan Ariely, Charles Duhigg, and others. But you’re busy. So many readers have written to me saying what my friend Jason always does: “I don’t have time. Okay, time to round up what the experts have said and build a roadmap. 1) Stop Reacting Get up before the insanity starts. When I spoke to productivity guru Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, what did he say? Here’s Tim: I try to have the first 80 to 90 minutes of my day vary as little as possible.

Most of us get up and it seems like things are already in motion.
Productivity Made Simple: The 7 Main Elements of GTD. Just like the five elements (Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood), GTD has its own elements.

Only there are seven instead of five…and not nearly as epic. In the previous parts of this series we were talking about things like how to select what to do next, and how to compile your projects list (and your next tasks list). Today it’s time to get deeper into this topic, and explain the main elements a little more in detail.

Not to keep you hanging any longer…let me tell you what the seven main elements of GTD are: Projects ListNext Tasks ListFuture/maybe ListCalendar“Waiting for” ListResource FilesThe Intangible One (wait for it…) Being familiar with these elements, knowing how to use them, and understanding their purpose is key to implementing GTD successfully. I know that it sounds like a lot of work, and that some of the elements are not clear at this point, but I assure you, it’s much easier than it seems.
The Myth of Multitasking: Why Fewer Priorities Leads to Better Work. The word priority didn’t always mean what it does today.

In his best-selling book, Essentialism (audiobook), Greg McKeown explains the surprising history of the word and how its meaning has shifted over time. The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. It was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing. It stayed singular for the next five hundred years. The Myth of Multitasking Yes, we are capable of doing two things at the same time. What is impossible, however, is concentrating on two tasks at once. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the human brain could transition seamlessly from one job to the next, but it can’t.

Switching cost is the disruption in performance that we experience when we switch our attention from one task to another.
Find the Hurdles in a Project Before Procrastinating. 8 Bad Habits that Crush Your Creativity and Stifle Your Success. 10 Simple Productivity Tricks To Manage Overloaded Information. Do you need to manage overloaded information?

Simple productivity tricks can help you cope with information in your job and your personal and social life. Here’s how to cope. You need systems to help you to keep track of everything. Once you have a trusted system in place, you can relax. Let’s look at ten simple productivity tricks which will help. 1.
What Is 'The Zone' Anyway?
One thing that will definitely help you stay in the zone is to eliminate the Internet as a distraction.

Once you've removed the temptation to check Facebook, Google+, or Reddit a thousand times an hour, it becomes tangibly easier to achieve it. Sometimes some people find it easier to achieve the Zone during a certain point of the day, such as the wee hours of the morning or the middle of the night. Some people, like I have experienced myself on numerous occasions, require an overwhelming amount of distractions in order to achieve it. Some of my best work I've done by mentally isolating myself from the world around me while I was sitting in the break room at work, or in the middle of a moderately busy coffee shop or fast food restaurant. But then I'm the shy type and I tend to mentally isolate from busy environments anyway, so that's probably where that comes from.
The Emergent Task Planner » - Dave Seah.

The Emergent Task Planner (ETP) is a paper-based daily planning sheet designed to keep you focused in the face of chaos.

Start the day by declaring what you want to get done, and the ETP helps you stick to the plan by with task, time, and scheduling support. Because it’s paper, it’s easy to keep your task list in view without fiddling with computer screens. Portable and always-on, with ample space for note taking, the ETP is designed to make your day more productive by serving as an anchor for your mind. You can download the free versions to print-out at home and try it out. There are also pre-printed pads, sticky notes, and notebook versions of the ETP available on Amazon USA. Elements of Productivity The ETP is designed around three ideas: Focus – A small set of important tasks is more likely to get done.Assessment – Estimating and tracking task time helps you allocate your time more effectively.Time Visualization – There are only so many hours in the day.